Rival Mentality
by Canadino
Summary: Cheren wants Touya to think about him; if that means being his rival, then so be it. onesided ? Touya/Cheren, suggested onesided Touko/Bel, Kuroshipping


**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the story idea and only some of the witty remarks. I own so little; so please don't steal.**

Background music: -

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Cheren wants to be the Pokemon League Champion, but why he wants to be has changed a lot. At first, when the seed of the thought plants itself in his mind when he is seven, he thinks because the Champion is the strongest trainer in all of the Pokemon world that no one would dare try and knock him down again and he wouldn't _need_ people like Touya or Touko to defend him. He does not want to be like a princess on a pedestal like Bel with other people protecting him. He can defend himself. So he goes on thinking it all about strength, because god knows he is blessed with brains, not brawn. But now, thinking about it, it was about Touya. It was always about Touya.

When he was seven and they were all playing Pokemon Masters, all four of them, because it's fun to think about wielding Pokemon even though they're really only borrowed their parent's Pokemon and even the Pokemon know about the situation so they only bump into each other when they call _tackle_, some of the older kids from town come over and pick on them and kick dirt on their Pokemon and Bel runs off crying to her daddy. One of the bigger boys pushes Cheren down and says, "Kids like you can't hope to make it in the Pokemon world."

But Touko and Touya stand in front of him and they chase the big kids off. They really are the closest twins he knows, Cheren thinks when he watches them high-five before turning around to make sure he is okay. Bel comes by a couple minutes later dragging her worried and extremely upset father along with her. Touko calms her down as Touya kneels by him and checks him for scratched knees and Cheren cries even though he is seven because he doesn't want Touya to think he's weak and this isn't helping. Touya walks him home, sniffling, and says things will be okay because they're friends and they're always there to help each other.

Friends. It is such a silly and pathetic thing to be. It's not that Cheren doesn't like Bel or the twins, but when he sits with them outside and they chatter, he just thinks how _silly this is_. There's something about the forgiveness and leniency between friends that makes them all take each other for granted. They all have dreams (except maybe Bel, because she doesn't seem to know what her life is all about), but there's nothing between them but friendly competition.

And maybe he _is_ being masochistic when he wants to be rivals with Touya, when he wants to make him cry and sometimes when he lies awake in bed, Cheren thinks about what Touya's face would look like when he realizes that his weak, dorky little friend just beat him. But it's not like he wants to completely destroy their friendship; no, he _is_ too weak and afraid to break it apart because deep down, after all, he likes Touya.

In the Pokemon magazine he keeps next to his bed, there's an article about a classic Champion, the twenty-something-already-year-old Red and how he had been rivals with his childhood friend Green. The journalist who wrote the article seemed to suggest that besides being something like frienemies, the two rubbed against each other to create a spark of some kind of dormant attraction. Well, that wasn't what the article said, but Cheren was good at reading between the lines.

"We're always going to be together," Touko said one time, but Cheren finds this hard to believe. Now they've all been giving Pokemon, he knows it is impossible and childish to think they will always find each other again in this vast world they are setting off to explore. They have different goals and different ways to complete each goal and they aren't traveling as a pack. So it's good to be a rival. Because rivals always have to show up from time to time, unlike friends, who are not expected to suddenly appear out of the blue. Because if you have a rival, you're always thinking about him, about if you're strong enough, about when the next time you'll see him will be. That is what Cheren wants; he wants Touya to think about him, when he is traveling, when he trains his Pokemon, when he settles down for the night. It isn't fair that when Cheren closes his eyes, he is the only one to dream about someone who may not love him back.

He thinks Bel probably would know what he means. He has seen, past the reflective glare of his glasses, how she looks at Touko. Bel is all smiles and laughter but there is a dark color of frustration and want whenever she looks at Touko and Touko is looking away into the wide ranges she has yet to explore. It probably mirrors the look he gives to Touya. The twins were never really well-known to be good at reading the atmosphere, anyway.

When Touko and Touya are a distance ahead, Bel turns to him, looks down at her shoes and mumbles, "Good luck, Cheren," and Cheren sort of knows what she means. He adjusts his glasses as she shuffles along next to him.

"Yeah, you too."

So when he beats Touya one time, and the brunette is laughing and saying he has much work to do, Cheren wonders how it would be different if Touya hated him, with the same passion he has to defeat N every time they meet. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right? Cheren wants to sit down in front of Touya and pull him close and kiss him, but it wouldn't be right, not when there is still a shadow of a doubt he isn't strong enough. He _knows_ his friend can do better than him and Cheren does not want to be in the position of someone helpless. That is why he wants to be Champion. Then, without a doubt, he will be ready to be with Touya.

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Note: UGH this has so been done before with probably every rival pairing, but whatever. I really shouldn't even be writing this, as I haven't even purchased or played Black/White ever. Hmm. Thanks for reading.


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